Rotary well-drilling head



J V. BOX.

ROTARY WELL DRILLING HEAD.

F APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2211919. 1,383, (85. Patented. Euly 5 2.923,

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVZENTOR .5 John Wincsrd: ox,

ATTORNEY Fi l-ifs JOHN VINCENT BOX, OF L09 ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,ASSIG'NOR OE ONE-THEM) TO (3. R. LITTLE ANILONE-'IPHIRD TO GEES.)WILLIAM BOTH 0F WEXTTIER, CALKEORNIA.

PAYNE MARTIN, (WIDUYYJ ROTARY WELL-DRILLING- H'EAD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN VINCENT Box,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the countyofLos Angeles and State of California, have invented new and usefulimprovements in Rotary Well- Drilling Heads, of which the following is aspecification. I a

This invention-relates to hydraulic heads employed in they operation(if-sinking oil wells and water wells by means of a rotary drilloperating in connection with water under" pressure. -a. 1 ln'drills ofthis kind thedrill-boring bit is hollow and is connected by a hollowshaft with rotary power'at the'top ofthe ground.

- Water under pressure is introduced through a hose and suitableconnections into the top of the hollow shaft'and said connections andshaft are handled by a cable attached to a practically non-rotatinghead, with relation to which the hollow shaft is rotated. The weight ofthe bit and shaft is supported by said head which in turn is carried bythe cable and is raised and lowered thereby as the character of thedrilling and attendant operations require. Said shaft is connected withthe power apparatus through the medium of an angular section which isadapted to slide up and down relative to the power applying means bywhich it is rotated.

An object of the invention is to providea practical antifriction supportfor said shaft'and bit.

It has recently becnfound practicable and desirable to drill oil wellsto greater depths than has heretofore been common, and wells are nowbeing sunk to depths of five thousand feet and more as well as less. Itis common in this work to employ along tubular rotary drilling shaft theweight of which in some cases is more than seventyfive tons, and suchshafts are revolved at a speed of from about fifty to one hundredrevolutions per minute. more or less, and .the tool is lowered to deepenthe cut While Specification ofLetters Patent. Iatentgfi July 5, 19231,

22, 2919. Serial No. 325,552.

which causes such action upon the antifriction bearings of the hydraulichead by which the shaft is supported, as to rapidly put the same Qut ofcommission.

This hasbeen it source of eat less of money, time and material. n objectof this invention-is to avoid such loss.

' In hydraulicheads of this character one {of the chief difficultiesencounteredin the drilling of deep Wells has arisen from the failure ofthe anti-friction'bearing to stand and hold up under the heavy strainand thrust caused by the operatingforces. An object of this invention isto make provision whereby such strain and thrust will be compensated forand reduced to a minimum.

1 have discovered that the'destruction of the anti-friction bearing iscaused by out- Ward thrust of the rollers in such bearings and thatsuchoutward thrust can be avoided bv a proper construction andarrangement of the parts going to make up the bearing.

An object of this invention is to provide such an anti-friction supportfor the heavy weight of the rotary shaft and boring bit, as toeffectively avoid jamming, excessive wear, displacement or destructionof the parts of such a support under the conditions above detailed, andto maintain the shaft in true axial alinement during its rotation.

The best anti-friction roller bearings for this purpose heretofore knownto rue are constructed with truncated "conical rollers arranged withtheir axes in a horizontal plane; said rollers resting upon an annularsupport or raceway having the form ofa truncated cone, the produced apexof which cone is centrally located above the level of the orifice in therollersupport through which the shaft extends. A

I have determined that with such construction the gravitational pressureand'the causes looseness between the rollers and i'iecessitates frequentre 'iilacelnent of the roller-bearing parts and also replacement ofjournal bearings for the shaft.

I have discovered. that the remedy for .clining the roliers that theiraxes converge bf this construction the destructive action thesedifiiculties and destructive action is to incline downwardly andinwardly the unnula'r floor which supports the rollers so that thesupporting raceway floor is pro vitied with a cavity which is the fm rnof a inverted trun etc-(l cone, the prociuccd of which is central to andbelow the level of the rim of the orifice through ".ihich the shaftextends (1OWI1W5l1tii". 911 this race way I mount uniform t nncctetlconical roll crs; that is to say, rollers which are alike and arefrustunis of cones, of such pitch that when the rollers are in place onsaid floor, the produced epexes of the rollers will terminate at theprodnceri apex of said cavity.

In this respect my invention is broarlly new, basic and. pioneer and isat present pactically indispensable in the iSOfll said Wells of apgiroxiniately 5000 feet oz by rotary driiis.

1 also so construct the outer encls o rollers that the outward thrust,if any, borne with minimum friction urciwezir.

A principle of the invention is (lan'iaging end-thrust of the taperingis eliminated by so constructing the and the truncated conical rollersand so e i. together by connected table iii L it in snci ,lzite any:

downwardly as traces of an inverted cone,

x i 0 a concave floor, the upper surface vhi is pa allel to suchinverted; cone. M; a consequence 0 this construction and Sll'hl'l? mentthe resolution of :torces applied to irusto-conicel rollers )ructicells' them in in practical cons" make the outer end of each conical 1* thesegment of a sphere,x thus afford mg 04 surface annulerly inclinedoutward "ow d the axis of each rol vr. The outer .riii'i Walls of theupper and lower hearing chit of the raceway are concevccl to conform tthe semispherical roller ends. As a rcsul above referred to ispractically done away with and the operation is made smooth anticomparatively frictionless. v

An object oi the invention. is to provide a. superior anti-thrustbearing: lilifiifi to purposes above indicated, and a broecliy newpioneer anal basic teittnre in this =tis a thrust bee ig coinprisi: anzmnul r base plate having 11R. inverted 1: ed. cow ical cavity the apexof the c the proiiuceii axis oi? the r and tupcing roliers on th cavitv;the axes of Sui-1i. roiit, to smci, produced ape invertcil t runcei'whereby en 0 and the hose arc :01 the to sus'oeic the she f weTHI'VHK'E; nurpohiptml. in n :1 'ti 1 4V i t i with ntitriciiion L251 w-1 H 1.. lu 4L *MUELL MLULS' 165i) the shaft journal section 6 itor usein deep well boring is so great that the antifriction devices heretoforeemployed have been subject to destruction in various.

ways.

In the drawings a tubular. journal section 6 of the shaft provided. witha supporting means in the form of a flange 7 is shown supported by arotatable annular plate 8 having, a truncated conical raceway 9 andresting on truncated conical rollers 10. that are spaced apart by spacebars 11 and rest on a truncated conical .racew 1y 12.

The raceway 12 is a truncated conical deprcssion in an annular baseplate {and the produced apex of said depression is coincident with theaxis a of the tubular journal section 6 of the drill shaft. Thetruncated cone rollers 10 taper at such an angle that their producedaxes converge to the produced apex of the lower raceway 12. The raceway9 is the frustuin of an inverted cone, the produced apex of which coneis also eoincident with the apex of the inverted cavity forming theraceway 12.

The spacing bars 11 are connected together at their outer ends by theouter ring 14; and are connected together at their inner ends by 'heinner ring 14.. Said inner ring has an annular foot 15 that rests uponthe inner margin of the lower raceway 12.

Said lower raceway is formed. in an annular plate 13 which is providedat its periph" cry with anupwardly projecting rim 1?. The upper annularplate 8 is also provided. with a rim l8 and these two rims are spacedapart to accommodate the outer ring 1% without frictional contacttherewith.

Said lower plate 13 is contained within a housing formed by the cup 19jo'urnaled to and provided withthe gland 20 fitting said shaft 6. Saidcup has n cavity,-the.floor of which is in the form of'the frustum of aninverted cone, and upon said cup of the housing is the housing' cap 21detachaloly fixed to the housing cup by bolts 22.

The flange 7 is provided with a ball raceway in which anti-frictionballs 24 are arranged to run; the some being borne upon by the cone .25which is externally screw-- threaded and is screwed-down through theannular cap 21 and is there secured by the threadedlock ring 26. Thecone 25 is the lower terminal of a cylindrical gland in which is placedpacking 27 secured by the bushing 28.- The cone portion of the gland isjournalcd upon the shaft 6; the antifriction means :23, 24 and 25cooperate for minimizing friction between the flange 7 and the cap 21and for steadying the shaft-6 during its rotative movement; end tlngland packing 27 and bushing 28 close the joint so that said shaft 6will not have any lateral vibratory movement relative to the cap 21 endleakage of lubricantis avoided The capZl is provided with trunnions 21)to which the bail 30 is journaled for the purpose of suspending the cap.Said. trunnions 29 are lateral co-axial cylindrical projections from theupright arms 31 of the frame which is bridged over the top by the crosshead 32 through the center of which is provided an orifice 33 throughwhich the packing head 34; of the goose-neck 35 extends. Said packinghead is provided-with the lateral flange 36 that rests upon thecross-head 32, and is secured thereto by colts 37. Said packing head 34is adapted by the threaded end 38 of the goose neck to be connected withthe valved hose coupling 39.

The to c of the bearins )late 8 is rovided l c l P with a truncatedconica cavity and the flange 7 is an inverted truncated cone fittingtherein.

In practice when the parts are in position as shown in Fig. 6 and aresuspended by the line 40 in the usual manner, the force of gravity tendsto hold the journal section 6 of the shaft in vertical position Thebearing plate 8 does not contact with the cup 19 or the cap 21 andthebase plate 13 does not contact with the journal section (3;consequently, the bearing plate 8 revolves freely upon. the truncatedconical rollers 10, and friction between the flange 7, (which by itsengagement with the hearing plate causes the latter to revolve the shaft6,) and the cap, is minimized by the antifriction means 23, 2e and 25,and the glands 20 at the bot torn of the cup and the gland and. peekingat the top of the cap prevent escape from the housing of lubricant whichmay he introduced in any desired and well known way.

A. nipple ll, having a flange 4:2 is fixed to the top of the journalsection 6, of the shaft, by cap screws i3 and extends from said flange42 down into the journal section 6 and. up into the packing head 34 ofthe goose nee r. The connection between said packing head and nipple ismade water tight by the packing 44, held in place by thegland 4:5 andjam nut 46 llhen it is desired to gain access to the antifrictionhearing" inside the housing- 19, 21, the shaft may be lowered. to allowa couplin g' such as the coupling 4-? to rest upon a suitable supportsuch as the hub 48. of the driving gear 3 and then the cup 19 may besuppitarted and the. bolts 22 removed; thus releasing the cap 21;whereupon the line 40 may be operated to raise the cap from the cup.thus giving; access to the cup.

By lowering the cup, the bearing plate 8 is lowered from the flange 7,whereupon the flange '7 may he grappled by hooks inserted into seats 50thus giving access to the rollers 1,0 and to the retainer or SEPEIHKtlHgspider without dist: ihling the parts.

The outer e ds of the rollers are of semisphericsl form as indicated atSland the of a base plate seated in .vlded 111 its upper face weavessteadying the shaft during its rotative movement,- and truncated conicalrollers in said raceways, the apexes of the produced cones of thetruncated raceways and rollers converging to a common point in the axisof the hollow shaft journal section. i

11. The combination with a hearing cup,

said cup and prowith a truncated conicaldepression; truncated conicalrollers in said depression, a bearing plate provided with a truncatedconical raceway on the under side and mounted on said rollers; a hollowshaft journaled in said cup and provided with a flange resting on saidbearing plate; an annular cap detachably secured to said hearing cup;antifriction means on said flange for minimizing th flange and the capand for steadying the shaft during its rotative movement; meansconnected 'to the cap to raise and lower the same, and a connection forintroducing water under pressure to the hollow shaft.

12. The combination with a cup, of a shaft j'ourn'aled therein andprovided with a flange; a base plate provided with a raceway on itsupper face a spacing spider provided with a foot supported by said race-.tllllilfllctloll means in friction between I way; roller hearings insaid raceway; a hearing plate on said roller bearings and supporting theflange of said journal section; a cap detachahly connected to the cup:antifriction means on said flange for min-- imiainp friction between theflange and its rotative movement; and means connected to the cap toraise and lower the same! f 13. In a hydraulic head, the combinationwith an antifriction hearing, of a housing for said hearing, saidhousing comprising a cup and a cap; a journal section of a shaft mountedin the antifriction bearing and proided on its upper face with araceway; the raceway, and a cone screwed through thecap to cooperatewith said antifrictionmeans in said raceway for minimizing frictionbetween the cap and the journal section and for steadying' the shaftduring its rotative movement; and packing between the shaft and thecone" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 11th day of September, 1919.

JOHN VINCENT BOX. I

Witness:

JAMES TOWNSEND.

the cap and for steadying the shaft during

